What is National NeighborWorks Week?
National NeighborWorks Week — now in its 26th year — is a celebration of the accomplishments of the NeighborWorks network and an opportunity to increase the network's visibility and build partnerships. It was held on June 6-13, 2009.
During NeighborWorks Week, local NeighborWorks organizations mobilize tens of thousands of volunteers, businesspeople, neighbors, friends, and local and national elected and civic leaders in a week of neighborhood change and awareness. They rehab and repair homes, paint and landscape properties, conduct neighborhood tours, recognize successful partnerships, and host events that educate, train and inform. In addition, NeighborWorks organizations are eligible for grants and technical assistance to support their NeighborWorks Week activities.
Why We Do NeighborWorks Week
“National NeighborWorks Week is about connecting to families and communities at a personal level. Our organization has worked at various levels—from funding community organizations to training them to building awareness of their needs at a policy level on Capitol Hill. We need to continuously try to find ways to reconnect and create opportunities for our organizations to connect not only to their residents but to funders, partners, and politicians. The ability to mobilize individuals in a team to create real change is an effort that needs to be recognized and celebrated—specifically, with groups that would not normally be in contact with each other, and especially when the effort helps empower and rebuild a community..” —Steve Tuminaro, NeighborWorks America
|
History of NeighborWorks Week
NeighborWorks Week was conceived in 1984
as a way to draw attention to the often-unacknowledged work of what was then a network of 182 local NeighborWorks organizations working in 360 neighborhoods. As the network has grown to its current level of
more than 240 community development organizations working in more than 4,400
neighborhoods, so too has NeighborWorks Week. Now, nearly the entire NeighborWorks network embraces the week as a way to demonstrate its solid work in local communities and the cumulative effect of this work on a national level. This historical impact is captured in an interactive map presentation that features a photo slide show as well as imbedded television news spots and newspaper articles. To view, click here.
About the NeighborWorks Network
Organizations involved in National NeighborWorks
Week are part of a national network of nonprofits that work year-round
to revitalize communities. NeighborWorks
organizations operate in 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto
Rico. They make home ownership possible for individuals and families.
They provide quality affordable rental housing. They transform abandoned
and distressed properties into homes of choice. They bring business
to areas once thought unprofitable. Find
out more about the NeighborWorks network.
